FAITH: Love Like God Does!

God blessed me with an incredible father. My dad lost his father when he was only eighteen years old. Despite this my father was the first person to finish college in his family. He ran a pulp mill. This mill burned 800 tons of coal per day. It required 1,000,000 cords (yes, one million!) cords of wood per year to power the mill. My father also sent out a Christmas card every year explaining the gospel to every person in the mill.

It’s only natural for a child to imitate his father. I’ve certainly tried to imitate my father. The Bible commands us as believers to imitate our heavenly Father. Ephesians 5:1 says, “Therefore be imitators of God….” The word imitate comes from a Greek word that means “to mimic.” We are to mimic or imitate God. This is the highest duty of any person. In Ephesians 5:1-2 the apostle Paul explains that we as Christians are to imitate or copy God by answering three questions…

The first question is, “Why? Why are we to imitate God?” Ephesians 5:1 says, “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children….” The moment a person repents of their sin and puts their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus he becomes God’s child. Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father, who art in heaven….” (Matthew 6:9). If you are a disciple of Jesus, God the Father loves you as much as He loves His own Son, Jesus (John 17:23).

Twice in the life of Jesus, God the Father spoke audibly from heaven. When Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, God the Father spoke out of the heavens, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” At the Transfiguration God the Father again spoke audibly. He said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him!” (Matthew 17:5)

Jesus is described as God’s “beloved Son.” Guess how God describes us as His children? Yes- we are His beloved children. As God’s beloved children we must imitate our Father.

Second, how are we to imitate God? Ephesians 5:1-2 says, “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love….” We are to imitate God by walking in love. There are many attributes of God we cannot imitate. God is omnipresent. He is everywhere. God is omniscient. He is all knowing. God is omnipotent. He is all powerful. We cannot imitate these qualities of God. However, an attribute of God we can copy or mimic is His love.

Jesus washed His disciples feet in John 13. The night before He died Jesus took the clothing of a slave and washed the dirty, dusty feet of His disciples. Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (John 13:34). It is not new in that it was never taught before. The Old Testament teaches us to love one another. However, Jesus taught this in a new, more profound way.

Third, to what extent are we to love one another? Ephesians 5:2 says, “…and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.” The perfect example of the Father’s love is the Lord Jesus. Jesus said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Jesus and the Father are not the same Person. But every attribute found in God the Father is perfectly expressed in the Lord Jesus.

Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament sacrificial system. Every Old Testament sacrifice pointed to Jesus. His work is described as a “fragrant aroma.” In the Old Testament God smelled the sacrifices and His wrath was satisfied or soothed.

What drove Jesus to the cross? It was His love for you and me. Jesus said that twelve legions (72,000) of angels were waiting to rescue Him from the cross. Jesus remained upon that cross. He did not ask the angels to rescue Him. He drank the cup of the Father’s wrath. What motivated Jesus? His great, great love for you and me.

The great hymn says, “How deep the Father’s love for us, how vast beyond all measure, that He should give His only Son, to make a wretch His treasure. How great the pain of searing loss, the Father turns His face away, as wounds which mar the Chosen One, bring many sons to glory.” There is no higher calling than to walk in love and imitate our heavenly Father.

Pastor Ethan Hansen

Faith Bible Fellowship

Big Lake, AK